- The second season premiere of CMT’s Redneck Island with WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin, airing this past Saturday, was the highest-rated season premiere in the channel’s history. CMT issued the following press release:

CMT’S RETURN OF “REDNECK ISLAND” HOSTED BY STEVE AUSTIN DELIVERS AS NETWORK’S HIGHEST-RATED SEASON PREMIERE IN HISTORY

NASHVILLE – November 12, 2012 – CMT’s REDNECK ISLAND hosted by Steve Austin scored with the season two premiere on Saturday, November 10, claiming its place as the network’s highest-rated series launch in history. REDNECK ISLAND earned a .75 among P18-49 with more than 1.4 million viewers P2+ tuning in, according to early Nielsen reporting. The series also performed well on CMT’s social platforms, as #RedneckIsland trended nationally on Twitter for the majority of the show, and peaked at the #4 position. Additionally, the series Facebook page grew roughly 400 percent since the beginning of the month.

The return of REDNECK ISLAND served as a strong lead-in for the anticipated premieres of new series CHAINSAW GANG and BIG TEXAS HEAT as well on Saturday night. CHAINSAW GANG earned a .52 P18-49 rating, with 953,000 total viewers P2+. BIG TEXAS HEAT earned a .34 P18-49, with 693,000 total viewers P2+. All three series significantly increased their QTD time period averages across all demos, and particularly among young male viewers.